{"id":4323,"date":"2017-02-04T11:54:39","date_gmt":"2017-02-04T18:54:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/?p=4323"},"modified":"2021-01-20T15:25:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T22:25:59","slug":"losing-weight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/losing-weight\/","title":{"rendered":"Losing Weight and Your Sanity: Why the Scale Lies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your relationship with your weight\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">isn\u2019t healthy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s not about losing weight or gaining muscle, or even responding to warnings from medical professionals. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It&#8217;s your relationship with the number on the\u00a0scale, a device that can be more misleading than it is insightful.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scale can be helpful &#8212; if you know how to make sense of what it says. But since you are more likely to stress, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/why-losing-weight-is-hard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">obsess<\/a>, and be confused by the number &#8212; regardless of whether you are healthy, overweight, or obese &#8212; it&#8217;s time to take a stand and change your relationship with the scale. It&#8217;s vital to your weight loss (or muscle gain) success.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scale weight should just be a piece of information. A number. Data. Whether your goal is losing weight (or more accurately, losing fat) or packing on pounds of muscle, the scale shouldn&#8217;t be your only way of measuring progress.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tweetable\"><p>There\u2019s a big problem with thinking that a number on a scale will make you happy. It won\u2019t.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For too many people, scale weight means so much more. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our emotions get involved. Certain numbers make us happy. Others make us feel awful. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scale is so misunderstood that the device itself becomes another source for our emotional and psychological struggles with losing weight (or gaining). The numbers the scale reports turn into another reason why we have a hard time sticking to a plan. Why? Because we trust in the scale so much that it blinds us from success and can lead us down a trail of endless frustration. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It shouldn\u2019t be this way\u2014and not just because it\u2019s unhealthy and counterproductive. Obsessing over weight is foolish because we are being fooled by the number itself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In fact, when it comes to being an indication of our health, the scale is oftentimes (but not always) a bald-faced liar. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The scale can\u2019t keep its story straight. Ask it the same question 15 times in a day and <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/weight-loss\/weight-fluctuation-experiment\/slide\/14\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you\u2019ll get 15 different answers<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The figure that the scale quotes to us creates more questions than it answers. But we rarely ask for more information. Instead, we just accept the figure as gospel. Our ego draws its own conclusions from there. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My weight is going up. That\u2019s bad. <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My weight is going down. That\u2019s good. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both of those statements can be false interpretations of faulty information. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time to fight back. Instead of being a victim of the scale\u2019s dictatorship, you can: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Understand the many ways in which the scale gives you bad information.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Discover a method for gathering better intel about the true state of your body\u2014one that is less prone to the scale\u2019s drastic swings. You\u2019ll learn how to put what it tells you into context. \u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn real-world steps you can take today to help steer your body in the direction you want\u2014and receive some tips to help you if you get stuck along the way.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote class=\"tweetable\"><p><strong>The scale has wielded too much power over your life for too long. <\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time to call it out for what it is: an oversimplified, misleading manipulator. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Losing Weight 101: The Many Lies of the Scale<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How do you lie to us, o scale? Let us count the ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight changes constantly throughout the day.<\/b> Any figure that the scale reports to you is merely a snapshot. A moment in time. The number doesn\u2019t take a whole lot of time to change, and it doesn\u2019t need a reason to shift. Dietician Alexandra Caspero showed you can gain almost <a href=\"http:\/\/www.womenshealthmag.com\/weight-loss\/weight-fluctuation-experiment\/slide\/13\">two pounds in an hour<\/a> without any apparent cause at all.<\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight is subject to the whims of water. <\/b>Your intake of H20, or output of sweat, can cause your total body weight to shift up or down by nearly half a percentage point within any given day, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scientificamerican.com\/article\/experts-body-wieght-ambient-temperature\/\">according to John Castellani<\/a>, a researcher at the U.S. Army\u2019s Research Institute of Environmental Medicine.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your water\/salt balance can cause seasonal shifts in your weight, too. When the mercury climbs in the spring and summer, your body uses a hormone called aldosterone to retain more fluid. So what looks like a summertime backslide in progress might just be your body\u2019s natural reaction to the warmer weather. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, if you\u2019re not taking in enough fluids, then your body will hold on to more of them for you. \u201cMild dehydration <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2010\/HEALTH\/expert.q.a\/10\/08\/water.weight.fluctuates.jampolis\/index.html?hpt=Sbin\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">may cause fluid retention<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which can increase scale weight, \u201c explains Dr. Melina Jampolis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight makes your stress an even bigger deal. <\/b>Numerous studies show a relationship between elevated stress levels and higher weights. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/23512679\">5-year long study<\/a> of more than 5,000 people in Australia found that those who felt the most stress also gained the most weight during that time span.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stress is also one of the main triggers of binge eating. Combine that with negative reinforcement from the scale and you have a damned unfortunate vicious cycle: Stress makes you eat. Eating increases your weight. Your weight makes you stress. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Making matters even worse, stress increases cortisol production, which has been linked to higher levels of abdominal fat in both <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16353426\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">women<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/10023725\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">men<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight can be downright dirty. <\/b>Motility\u2014the polite way of saying \u201chow frequently you poop\u201d\u2014matters when you measure your scale weight. This rate varies from person to person. Your regularity can change based on what, and how often, you eat. (People with an extremely slow rate are said to have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niddk.nih.gov\/health-information\/digestive-diseases\/gastroparesis\">gastroparesis<\/a>, or delayed gastric emptying.) How much you chew your food, whether or not you drink water with meals, and how much you are up and about walking can also influence it.<\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight is as subject to change as your flight schedule.<\/b> Air travel can impact your weight by disrupting not only your circadian rhythm\u00a0but also the rhythm of the bacteria in your gut microbiome.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A study published in <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cell.com\/cell\/abstract\/S0092-8674%2814%2901236-7\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cell<\/span><\/i><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found when mice were subjected to jet-lag-like conditions, the bacteria in their digestive systems changed and the animals gained weight. The researchers found that similar changes took place in the microbiomes of two people who traveled by air from the U.S. to Israel. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In non-scientific terms, you might notice bloating when you travel, which regulates within 24 hours. Are you actually gaining weight while you\u2019re in the air? Of course, not. But the scale might have you believe otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight rewards cheaters. <\/b>You could hack your way down to a target number through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/diet-or-deception-the-problem-with-nutrition-secrets\/\">crash dieting<\/a> and stimulants. But you definitely won\u2019t be healthier for having done it.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cYou can technically lose weight by cutting your calories by half and eating minimally nutritious, highly processed junk food. But that misses the point,\u201d says Las Vegas-based dietitian Andy Bellatti. \u201cSure, the number on the scale will be lower, but you probably won&#8217;t feel good and you won&#8217;t have much energy to engage in physical activity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight shows us trees but hides the forest. <\/b>Your weight can fluctuate significantly due to a single meal, making you stress unnecessarily.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Say you\u2019re on a weight loss plan and making progress. So you treat yourself to a heartier meal while you\u2019re out with some friends. That\u2019s a totally normal and healthy thing to do\u2014<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/eat-damn-dessert\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reward should be part<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of a weight loss plan. But the next time you step onto the scale, the number you see could try to convince you otherwise. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe scale plays a huge role in what we call \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">what the hell?\u2019 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">weeks,\u201d explains Born Fitness Head Coach B.J. Ward. \u00a0\u201cPeople will retain water after an \u2018off-plan\u2019 meal, which tips the scale higher. Then they\u2019ll have an emotional reaction.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People wind up thinking that they aren\u2019t making progress\u00a0when really they\u2019re just a little bloated. A similar effect can happen among people doing any type of carb cycling, Ward explains. You are going to weigh more after a high-carb day than a low-carb day. In either case, Ward says individual measurements aren\u2019t what matters. The overall trend line is. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDaily weigh-ins tend to produce mental static,\u201d Bellati says. \u201cMost people don&#8217;t know that a high sodium meal the night before can result in retention of 3 or 4 pounds of water the next morning, which most people mistake for true weight gain. They then enter an unhelpful and unnecessary spiral of frustration, guilt and self-blame.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Scale weight is blind to what really matters. <\/b>The final\u2014and biggest\u2014nail in the \u201c<i>should I sweat over what the scale says?<\/i>\u201d coffin is this: The scale can\u2019t tell you what you\u2019re really made of.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Plenty of people can step on a scale and hit a low number but be far from healthy. There\u2019s even a term for it: \u201c<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.livestrong.com\/blog\/the-great-health-experiment\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">skinny fat<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d On the flip side, the scale\u2014and its derivative BMI\u2014is prejudiced against people who carry more muscle. Which is why BMI will tell you that <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/health-shots\/2016\/02\/04\/465569465\/if-bmi-is-the-test-of-health-many-pro-athletes-would-flunk\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">every player on the Denver Broncos is overweight or obese<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, even though our own eyes can tell us that <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.espn.com\/espn\/photos\/gallery\/_\/id\/16591776\/image\/1\/von-miller-scenes\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Von Miller is friggin\u2019 jacked<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Muscle and bone are denser than fat. Stronger people may weigh the exact same\u2014or more than\u2014fatter, weaker people. The stronger people aren\u2019t worse off because they\u2019re heavier. In fact, <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bmj.com\/content\/345\/bmj.e7279\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">strength is connected to longevity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The raw number on the doesn\u2019t tell you the body fat percentage of the person standing on top of it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two people might both weigh 180 pounds. One is 10% body fat. The other is 20%. The first will be lean and muscular. The second will be soft and more prone to a variety of health problems (because of the higher body fat percentage). But the scale doesn\u2019t know or tell you the difference. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of these reasons are why no good dietician or coach would ever suggest that you focus on scale weight alone. \u201cI\u00a0think of health as a 20-piece puzzle,\u201d Bellatti says. \u201cScale weight is just one piece.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jessica Robertson, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RD at Indianapolis Fitness and Sports Training<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, agrees. \u201cWeight is one tool, but never something that I focus on or set specific goals around.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Overcoming the Scale Plateau<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first thing you should ask yourself when want to hit a specific weight is a simple, one-word, three-letter question: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Why is that number important to you? Dig into the meaning behind it. Where did you come up with the number? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes people set goals that aren\u2019t at all based on reality. You might set a goal of losing weight in an attempt to reach the weight you were in college. But your body has put on muscle since then. It&#8217;s possible that the only way to reach that figure would be to sacrifice lean mass (that&#8217;s not what you want). When you finally hit that number\u2014if you hit it\u2014it&#8217;s possible that you could wind up feeling awful, being quantifiably weaker, or not liking the way you look.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may have felt and looked great at five pounds heavier than the goal number. But you were too focused on reaching a number that was essentially plucked out of thin air (or from the annals of history) to notice. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The bottom line is that there\u2019s a big problem with thinking that a number on a scale will make you happy. It won\u2019t. A target weight is an easy goal that we <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">think<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> we are supposed to set. But in most cases, we should ignore that urge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s more important to focus on how you feel, how your clothes are fitting, or on measurements such as your waist, hips, arms, or even your heart rate,\u201d Robertson says. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/coaching\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born Fitness online coaching program<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, we teach our clients to self-monitor using four techniques:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Progress pictures: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can learn a lot from your selfies. Strip down to your skivvies and, without posing or flexing, take photos of yourself from the front, sides and back. Do it in a place where the lighting is consistent so you can get the same look the next time you shoot. (We suggest taking new ones about every four weeks.) Hang on to the pictures and watch what changes.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Body Circumferences:<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Get a body tape measure (several options are available for <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Perfect-Waist-Tape-Measure-80\/dp\/B001RU6MJA?th=1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as little as $6<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">). How many spots you want to measure are up to you. At a minimum, we suggest recording the size of your waist above the belly button, hips and thighs. If you have certain physique goals, like building bigger arms, then you\u2019ll want to measure those areas as well. Record your numbers. Check them again every 2-3 weeks. \u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Weight: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yes, you should record this number. But it\u2019s just one piece of data. It\u2019s not the be-all, end-all because losing weight is just one measure of progress and success. And most importantly, do <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">not<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> check it every day. Once a week at most. After all, you\u2019re not really interested in weight, per se. What you\u2019re interested in is weight and <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">body fat<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, which allows you to measure lean body mass. If the scale isn\u2019t moving much but your body fat is going down, that means <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">very<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> good things for your body.<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Subjective Questions: <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Examine hard-to-quantify but important aspects of your health and wellness with questions like: How do you feel? Are you energetic and upbeat, or tired and sluggish? You can also look at external indicators: How are your pants fitting? What about the rest of your clothes?<\/span><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Having four ways to gauge progress gives you veto power over the scale\u2019s lies. Now when it tells you \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019re getting fatter<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d you can fire back with \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nah actually bro I\u2019ve added a half-inch to my biceps and a quarter-inch to my chest.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whenever you see a drastic change in what the scale says, you\u2019ll have the ability to put what it tells you into context. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf we see a drop in weight, we want to corroborate that,\u201d says online fitness coach Brian Murray. \u201cThe same is true if there\u2019s an increase. In both cases, we\u2019ll use the progress pictures and circumference measurements to see what\u2019s really going on.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Winning the Battle of the Scale<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you want to make a positive transformation with your body, start by letting go of the temptation to allow a single number to determine your success or failure. Then get a clear picture of your starting point. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The four-part assessment above will tell you a lot about your body. But you\u2019ll also want to examine your habits: how well you are eating, sleeping and hydrating, and how much activity you get in a typical week. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, one of our new coaching clients will keep a food journal for a few days when they are first starting out. The journal itself is simple\u2014you just write down everything you eat in a day\u2014but admittedly time-intensive. Which is why we don\u2019t require or even recommend that people continue to do it over the long-term (although some find that they like journaling, and do keep doing it). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The goal with these few days of journaling is just to learn what you are really taking in during a typical day. Sometimes you\u2019ll be able to spot hidden sources of calories in unexpected places. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI recall a situation where it turned out that a client was adding about 600 calories to a salad via a \u2018healthy\u2019 vinaigrette dressing,\u201d Bellatti says. \u201cOnce we addressed that, the number on the scale started to move.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You\u2019ll want to learn about your sleep habits,\u00a0too, because numerous studies have shown that people who get <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16295214\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">fewer than 7 hours of sleep per night are more likely to be obese<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we cut our sleep duration short, our bodies <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/15583226\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">produce more ghrelin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014a.k.a. the \u201chunger hormone.\u201d This happens after <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18564298\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">just one night<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of sleep deprivation. Making matters worse, when we\u2019re tired, we\u2019re <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/news.berkeley.edu\/2013\/08\/06\/poor-sleep-junk-food\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">more likely to crave high-calorie foods<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So the more we can do to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/solving-sleep-problems-non-obvious-solutions-to-better-rest-and-recovery\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">improve our sleep duration and quality<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the better we\u2019ll be able to reach our weight loss goals. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just like it has with sleep, science shows that your hydration level strongly influences your overall body weight\u2014and not just water weight. An examination of nearly 10,000 Americans spanning three years found a <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.annfammed.org\/content\/14\/4\/320\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">clear association between inadequate hydration and obesity<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. So yes, the old \u201c8 glasses a day\u201d rule isn\u2019t a bad goal. But if you\u2019re the type who doesn\u2019t love the non-taste of H20, take heart: you can also increase your hydration levels by eating more fresh fruits and vegetables. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve talked a lot about your body and what influences it. But there\u2019s one other critical aspect of sustainable weight loss we haven\u2019t discussed: Your mind. Mindset is a key determinant of weight loss success. Bellatti says that one way to get your mind right is to start appreciating your body, no matter what state it\u2019s in currently. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhen you appreciate something, you want to take care of it,\u201d Bellatti says. \u201cSomething as simple as changing the thought process from \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I hate my body<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 to \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I want my body to operate at its best<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 provides an important shift.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why Losing Weight Fast Isn\u2019t Always a Reason to Cheer <\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s call this scenario #1. You start on a plan, check the scale after a week, and BAM! You\u2019re down a whole lot of weight. You feel amazing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAt that point, we say \u2018<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey, good job.\u2019 <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And then explain that while I don\u2019t want to dampen the achievement, we don\u2019t want to lose weight too fast because we\u2019re actually trying to maintain muscle,\u201d Ward says. \u201cSo then we take a look at the calories [a client] is taking in.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While getting results is great, super drastic cuts can make you lose muscle as well fat. In a healthy weight loss plan, you ditch the fat but keep the lean mass. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like Murray said earlier, anytime you experience a big scale shift is a great time to use the other three techniques to corroborate what you see. Do you notice a change in your progress pictures? How do you feel? What do the body circumference measurements tell you? They can help you see where those pounds are coming off. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may find that your weight is changing but nothing else is. Sometimes it\u2019s just your weight catching up with you. We call this the \u201cwhoosh\u201d effect, and it can happen for a lot of different reasons. Perhaps your cortisol levels went down and your body released some of the weight it had been holding on to. It could be water weight. Maybe you\u2019re just pooping more. Or the plummeting poundage could be due to a combination of those things. The point is that by having other tools at your disposal, you can get more insight into what\u2019s really happening. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll take the progress pictures, circumference measurements, and any other metric we can to look at the big picture and assess if it\u2019s something to get excited about,\u201d Murray says. \u201cBecause it very well could be.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><b>What To Do If You Get Stuck<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now let\u2019s talk about scenario #2. You\u2019ve established your baseline, made some changes, and experienced positive results. You&#8217;re losing weight or gaining muscle\u2014or at least it had been until these past few weeks. Now you seem to be stuck. The number hasn\u2019t moved. What do you do? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Step #1: Don\u2019t freak out.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Not enough people will tell you that <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/why-you-gain-weight-on-diets\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a plateau is part of weight loss<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. When the changes you\u2019ve made appear to stop working, they\u2019re actually still working. Your body does slow down its metabolism as you lose weight, but if you give it time to adjust to it\u2019s new (slimmer) reality, it will adjust again. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Step #2: Check yourself.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Are you still following the plan? That\u2019s one question to ask yourself. But it might be even better to ask: Has anything come up in my life that might be taking me off course? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWhat very often happens when people start seeing their results go in the opposite direction is that they\u2019re stressed at work, or stressed about something,\u201d Murray says. \u201cThey\u2019re eating more than they think, and can come to that realization quickly when they look at their cravings, how hungry they are, or whether they\u2019re eating before bed.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Step #3: Make adjustments if necessary. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes you may need to reduce caloric intake a bit more to keep making progress. Do this in small increments, and give it time to take effect. A \u201csmall increment\u201d may be between 300 to 500 calories, but the exact amount will depend on you, your goals, your body fat percentage, and how \u201cstuck\u201d you are. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Step #4: Go back to Step #1<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. If you have been staying true to the plan, and there\u2019s nothing in your life that has you stressed or is causing you to backslide, then grant yourself some patience. You often have to wait for the \u201cwhoosh,\u201d and do so for longer than you\u2019d like. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember that good habits, not specific numbers, are what\u2019s important. A number can\u2019t tell you how you feel\u2014unless you let it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><em><strong>READ MORE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/overeating\/\">Winning the War on Hunger: Practical Solutions to Overeating<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/do-carbs-make-you-fat\/\">Do Carbs Actually Make You Fat?<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bornfitness.com\/weights-are-better-than-cardio-for-fat-loss\/\">Why Weights are Better Than Cardio for Fat Loss<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Daily weigh-ins can drive you crazy\u2014all because of information that\u2019s flawed in the first place. If losing weight or gaining muscle is your goal, here\u2019s how you can make real progress toward your goals. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":4324,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[720,41,755,898,899,11],"class_list":["post-4323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","tag-fat-loss","tag-muscle-gain","tag-plateau","tag-scale","tag-scale-weight","tag-weight-loss","bf-level-beginner"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Losing Weight and Your Sanity: Why the Scale Lies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Daily weigh-ins can drive you crazy because the scale is flawed. 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